A Cannibal Among Us
by lexilacey27
Summary: I suck at summaries... I'm sorry. I really can't summarize this because I don't have the end planned out. All I can say is I have added an OC.
1. La Séduction

_Okay, sadly (but it's probably for the best) I don't own these characters (except for Elizabeth, you'll see if you read on). All rights go to Bryan Fuller and Thomas Harris. Now, don't get me wrong because I love Hannibal and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the show (in fact, if you asked me, I'd say it's a disturbing perfection) but I had to write this because I have no self control and the idea just hit me out of nowhere. Hopefully, it's not as bad as I think and someone out there will actually like it. We shall see. Now, bon appétit, fellow Fannibals. (This is not a Will/Hannibal ship, I'm sorry. I have nothing against gays, but I don't feel comfortable writing it.)_

"I need you to seduce Will Graham." Hannibal tells me.

"Who? That man in the FBI who Freddie Lounds wrote about?" I question.

"Yes."

"Why, Dr. Lecter?"

"Please, Elizabeth, call me Hannibal. We've been working together for two weeks now."

"Alright, Hannibal," I say, stretching out the fact that I called him by his first name, "stop sidetracking my question and answer it."

"Will you do it?"

"It depends on the reason."

He sighs, "He has a lot going on and he needs to relax. I think you can help him do just that."

I smile, thinking that this was pretty much a set-up date. "Alright then."

"So you'll do it?"

I think about it and say, "Why not?"

Hannibal opens the fridge and says, "We should invite Will to dinner."

"This better be interesting."

"You'll find him interesting, trust me."

_Later on…_

"Oh, Hannibal, I didn't know you had a patient. Sorry." I lie, walking into the room.

"And I didn't know Hannibal had a wife," the man I assume to be Will Graham says. I laugh lightly.

"This isn't my wife; this is my partner in psychiatry, Elizabeth Johnson. Elizabeth, this is Will Graham." Hannibal says. I can tell he got a kick out of Will thinking we were married. Will and I shake hands, and I wonder how I'm going to carry out seducing him. He doesn't seem very social… I can already tell that he's trying to avoid my eye contact. But I might be able to work around that. Why was I doing this? It was wrong and immoral. But for some reason I had a strong feeling that maybe I needed this. I haven't dated in two years…and it might be nice to let someone in.

"You probably know me from that Freddie Lounds article." Will grimaces.

"Yes, but I don't believe a word of it. So therefore, I don't know anything about you."

"Well, I'm Will Graham." He says and smiles. Dry humor suited him well, I have to admit.

"I'll let you two get acquainted. I have to check on dinner. Will, I assume you'll be staying?" Hannibal says.

"Do I have a choice?" he says and laughs dryly.

"So why are you Hannibal's patient?" I ask.

"Jack Crawford, my boss, kind of forced me into it, but with good reason. I see things that aren't there and occasionally, I hear things."

"Why do you think you do?"

"I had to shoot someone. He killed his wife and tried to kill his daughter so I had to do it. But I still…I can't…"

"Did Hannibal tell you that this is somewhat normal?"

"Me? Normal?" He laughs nervously. "No, he didn't."

"Well, you took someone's life. It would be considered inhumane if it didn't affect you in this way. It's post-traumatic stress. This sort of thing didn't happen before, did it?" I'm surprised that it didn't take much to get him to open up.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"You don't remember?"

"It's hard to tell if I'm dreaming or hallucinating."

"I can only imagine."

"So how haven't I seen you here before?"

"How long have you been seeing Hannibal? I've only been here for two weeks."

"A week ago was my first session."

"Well, my office is down the hall, so maybe I had a patient when you were here."

"I guess. So you live with Hannibal…and you expect me to think that there is nothing romantic going on between you two."

I'm taken aback by this, and I know it probably shows. "I live on the floor above his."

"It's still the same house."

"Will, he's just a good friend. I know that's hard to believe in today's society, but there's nothing going on between us."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I mean, I just assumed…"

I force a smile. "It's your detective instinct, I suppose." I smile again, but this time it isn't forced. "I wanted to be an FBI agent ever since I was thirteen."

"Why didn't you go for it then?"

"I don't know. Psychiatry just fit me better, I guess." I hated the fact that I had to lie about that. But I wasn't ready to talk about the truth, not yet, anyway.

Hannibal comes in then and says, "Dinner is ready."

"What is it today, Hannibal?" I ask. This is the best job I've ever had. He pays me through letting me live there and serving freaking gourmet meals and he lets me keep three quarters of the payment I get from my patients.

He pulls out my chair for me and Will sits down and he says, "As always, nothing vegetarian," and he smiles. "It's chicken, because I know how picky you are, Elizabeth," Will looks confused and Hannibal informs him that I won't eat rabbit, duck or deer (and I only eat the select parts of animals. I will not eat their heart or lungs.). "I find it surprising, considering she grew up in Oklahoma."

"Haven't I told you that I lived in England until I was nine? That's why my accent is so odd. It's a mix between British, the Southern twang, and what most Americans call a 'normal' accent, because I've been living in Maryland for eight years now."

"Why did you move to Maryland?" Will asks me.

"I was offered a job at a hospital that I just couldn't refuse. I would serve as therapist for suicide attempters, kidnap and rape victims, sometimes even kids that were going to undergo surgery and were freaked out about it. I liked helping people like that. But it gets really depressing after a while, especially if you can't help them enough and they go on scared as hell or if you have to refer them. Sometimes the person is just downright depressing from the start."

"And how did you get hired here?" He's looking at both of us, so Hannibal and I glance at each other, wondering which one should answer the question. I wonder if Will thinks I was lying about Hannibal and me.

"A friend of mine told me that Elizabeth was an amazing psychiatrist but she seemed depressed. I thought I'd offer her a job here and let her see what therapy can be like without any physical trauma done to the patient. Besides, I've been living alone too long."

"So there _is _something going on between you two." Why was Will so insistent on that?

"I didn't mean it like that, Will. That was rude."

"What friend?" I ask. I never really asked him how he actually found me. Now I saw why Will thought this was suspicious.

"Dr. Andrew Rodriguez. He's a surgeon."

"Oh. I know him. He never mentioned you, though."

"Weren't you a surgeon?" Will asks Hannibal.

"Yes. I stopped when a patient of mine died during the operation I was performing."

We eat the rest of dinner in painful silence. "Well, I've left my dogs alone all day. They're probably hungry. I have to go." Will says.

"Nice meeting you, Will." I say. He manages a weak smile and says, "You too."

"Dogs?" I ask Hannibal.

"He has a collection of strays."

That sealed the deal. Will was nice enough, and he was good-looking, I had to admit, _and _dogs… _Elizabeth! _I scold myself. _What are you doing? You just met the guy, plus he has a therapist, which means that he's unstable…_ But why would Hannibal tell me to seduce him if he wasn't stable enough for an interpersonal relationship? I'm taken out of my self-enhanced trance when Hannibal starts talking again.

"Well, Elizabeth, it's time for me to begin a seduction of my own." _What was he talking about?_ The answer came to me when he kisses me.

_He kisses me._ I'd made a point to never date a coworker. But I'd never been _living _with a coworker…

Why would he tell me to seduce Will Graham if he was going to do this? His lips trail down to my neck…

_Did he just bite me?_

_Do I care?_

_What the hell was happening?_

_Okay. I know that was confusing…It'll make more sense when I write the next chapter (I hope). And I didn't think of this but I thought it was funny._

_Hi, I'm cannibal. Oops, I meant Hannibal. What a silly slice of the tongue. Oh, there I go again. I meant slip of the tongue. Well, anyway, it was nice to eat you. I mean meet you. _

_Oh, and I don't know if I should move this up to M or not. I don't know how much detail I'll go into later on…_


	2. Roche

_Okay, I'm blown away by the response to this already! You Fannibals are freaking awesome! I love you guys. Anyway what I meant by the M thing is this: Is this considered rated T? Because I'm not sure. I suck at summaries and ratings. I'm so happy you crazy people liked it so far! BTW is it Lecter or Lector? _

_I've been fighting with myself on this because I really just wanted to stay with Elizabeth's point of view, but I have to do this chapter from Hannibal's. I'll go back to Elizabeth's next chapter._

I pulled away once I regained control of myself. I was expecting her to start yelling at me like all stubborn women do (I might've only known her for two weeks, but she made that point of her personality clear), but she just stared at me.

"What the hell? You tell me to seduce Will, and I agree, and then you kiss me?" Well, that's what I expected.

"Elizabeth, I did it all in good reason. Will is unstable. You're the one who's going to be the bedrock in that relationship. The reason I asked you to seduce him is because he needs a stability that I can't give him. He's going to break you. Not on purpose, he just can't help it. If you get close enough to him, then everything that happens to him is going to affect you too. It's going to hurt, watching him go through that. And that's where I'll come in. I'll be your bedrock, Elizabeth. I can repair what he breaks."

"No. I can't do both. I can't…" She starts walking up the stairs and I follow her.

I stop her and put my hands on her shoulders. "Trust me. You're going to need us both." The way she's staring at me…those blue eyes…I can't take it. I kiss her again.

"Hannibal! You really aren't going to let me have the easy way out of this, are you? If Will needs a stability, my relationship with him wouldn't really be considered stable if we were cheating behind his back, now would it?"

"He won't know."

"You're impossible! I don't care if he won't know, it's the principle."

"Elizabeth, you're going to need me to be there."

"Why can't you just be there as a friend?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because I want you, too." I kiss her again to prove my point. She kisses back this time, so I assume my point has been taken.

"If he finds out…"

"He won't find out."

"What if someone else does?"

"Elizabeth, stop worrying. No one will know unless you tell them." I hug her and I run my fingers through her strawberry blonde hair. Someone to call my own… Someone who's mine…


	3. Derrière Des Portes Closes

_Okay that last chapter was awful so thank you for sticking with me if you still are. I can't write from Hannibal's point of view! I'll try not to do it again. _

"Abigail Hobbs woke up? Alana, Will and I are going to have to talk to her. No, why don't I send Elizabeth down to get him? You head down there; you're going to be her psychiatrist anyway." Hannibal hangs up the phone then.

"Abigail Hobbs? And I heard my name." I walk down the stairs, hoping he won't bring up last night.

"Abigail Hobbs is the daughter of the man that Will killed. Her father, Garret Jacob Hobbs, slit her throat before Will and I got there. She's been in a coma ever since. Alana Bloom is an FBI psychiatrist. She's been assigned Abigail. That was who I was just on the phone with. I'm sending you to go get Will to come with us."

"Wait. I'm going too? I have nothing to do with her."

"You have something with me, and you will soon have something to do with Will. So you and Abigail are connected by association. You won't have to say much, if you don't want to. Although I think you might be able to relate with her."

I'm about to ask why he thinks so but he starts giving me directions to Will's house so I have no choice but to shut my mouth and listen. Hannibal's phone rings again. Whoever is on the line is talking loud enough for me to hear: "Who the hell is Elizabeth? I don't think it's a good idea for either of you to talk to her right now. I'll go by myself." It was Alana, I assumed.

"Calm down, Alana. Why don't you go by yourself for now and we'll talk to Jack later about when Will should see her? Oh, and Elizabeth is a psychiatrist I hired for my practice to get a little more income. I'll see you later." I can hear her still talking, but Hannibal hangs up.

"I still want you to see Will," he says.

"Why?"

"How is he going to be able to trust you if he doesn't know you?" he says. I sigh and take my keys. While I'm driving I'm thinking _this isn't a seduction. Hannibal wants Will to trust me for some reason… This is a manipulation, of sorts._

I finally get to his house and there are at least eight dogs running toward me. I bend down to try and pet each one at least once (I'm a sucker for dogs) and Will comes out only wearing boxer shorts and a T-shirt. Oh God, help me.

I wave, trying to seem unfazed. One of his dogs keeps nudging against my leg and I have no choice but to smile. I pet his or her head and walk towards Will. "I wasn't expecting anyone…" he says nervously. "I'll go change and uh, make coffee."

"Okay," I smile and kneel down to pet some of his smaller dogs. I'd grown up with dogs and it'd been a while since I'd been around any. He comes back in more appropriate attire and tells me all his dogs' names while he makes coffee. "They're all strays?"

He nods and hands me my coffee. "What brings you here?"

"Hannibal wanted me to tell you that Abigail Hobbs woke up."

"She did? Why is he dragging you into this?"

"I don't know."

"I'd assume that her father took her hunting. Did you ever hunt?"

"Yes," and I hope he doesn't ask about it anymore. The last thing I needed was wounds that took forever to heal be opened again. "Alana, whom I've never met, doesn't think that it's a good idea for you to talk to her right now."

"Quite frankly, neither do I. What am I even supposed to say to her? I killed her father. Yes, it was self defense, and yes, he slit her throat, but she only gets one father…"

"Were you close to your father?" It was a personal question, and I shouldn't have asked it, but I was dying to know and I saw how worked up he was getting over talking about Abigail.

"No. I wasn't close to either of my parents. I had a better relationship with my father than with my mother, but it wasn't enough to keep the ties from being severed. Were you close to your father?"

"I was. He was always trying to make things better and he was just the adventure of the family…" I sighed. "But I wasn't close to my mother, either. She wanted me to act like a lady, not go hunting and drinking. Boy, could I hold my liquor…" We both smile at that.

"Whiskey or wine?"

"Just in general?" He nods. "Whiskey, at least ninety percent of the time."

"I approve, Elizabeth."

"Oh, call me Liz. Or Lizzie. Whatever suits your fancy."

"When I hear Lizzie, I think Lizzie Borden."

"Does that mean you'll be calling me Liz then?"

"Why not Beth?"

"That's what my mother called me because she knew it annoyed the hell out of me."

"So that's a no. Why not just Elizabeth?"

I smile. "Alright then," I say, not believing that we argued for this long over how he was going to address me.

"_I'll be your bedrock, Elizabeth." I liked the way he kissed me… But it wouldn't be good for Will…_

But I could already tell that Will wasn't going to be good for me. I had to keep Hannibal closer than I wanted to if I was going to go through with this with Will. It wasn't that I didn't want Hannibal…I did…but Will was broken and I wanted to fix him as much as I could. I knew he wouldn't take it well if he found out. Hannibal and I would have to keep it behind closed doors.


	4. Famille

"Do you think you'd do better if you had a male psychiatrist, Franklyn?"

"Are you going to refer me? I've already been referred seven times. I can't do it again."

"You aren't taking my therapy very well, and I think that it has to do with the fact that you're intimidated by women."

"No, I'm not. I can talk to you."

"I just think you'd benefit more if you had a man for a psychiatrist. Don't take it personally; it's for you to get better."

"Who am I being referred to?"

"Doctor Hannibal Lecter. His office is right down the hall, so this shouldn't be that bad for you. It's still the same place." I wrote out the referral slip and he left. I always hated letting patients go, even if they were somewhat aggravating. Franklyn could possibly be attracted to men and not women, and I'd like to see how Hannibal takes it. There really was nothing I could do for him anyway; he didn't like talking about _his _feelings. He wanted to know about mine, and I wasn't up for that.

Was this how I was trying to get revenge for him pawning me on Will?

If so, it probably wasn't a good attempt.

I walked into the kitchen and there was a teenage girl standing near the counter and Hannibal was picking up a shattered tea cup off the floor. "Hello, you must be Elizabeth," she says.

I glance at Hannibal. "And you must be Abigail. Nice to meet you."

"She's a little hazy right now." Hannibal says; hushed.

"Why? What did you give her? Why is she here?"

"I gave her psilocybin mushrooms through tea. She needs a break from the hospital. She gets scared."

"Oh, and I'm sure that Alana is perfectly okay with this. How much did you give her?"

"It's not even a full dosage."

I scoffed and Abigail said, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine, Abigail. Go sit down at the table, alright?" Hannibal tells her. She nods and walks into the dining room.

The doorbell rings and I go to answer it. A woman with dark hair is standing in the doorway. "Where is Abigail?"

I tell her to follow me into the kitchen. "Hannibal, rude. Shockingly rude! I can't believe you'd take my patient out of the hospital without consulting me first!"

They argue back and forth for a while, Hannibal tells her about the drugs, and then she turns to me. "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"God, no. I only met her today."

"Alright. I'm sorry we had to meet this way; but someone made it the only way." She glares at Hannibal. "I'm Dr. Alana Bloom, psychology professor and FBI consultant. You're Elizabeth, am I right?"

"Yes, Dr. Elizabeth Johnson."

"Please, Alana, stay for dinner." Hannibal says.

"Alright." We walk into the dining room and Abigail says, "Hi Alana. Are you staying? We're having breakfast for dinner."

Alana nods curtly; obviously anxious that her patient is under a drug she has no control over.

After a few minutes, Hannibal asks Abigail what she sees. "I see family," she replies.


	5. Chasse

"I appreciate you referring Franklyn to me. He's very interesting." Hannibal tells me as we're sitting by the fire.

"Really? Define interesting."

"He thinks there is a lion in the room that's about to devour him. Was that kind of imagination too much for you?"

"He never told me about that. He kept talking about his friend, Tobias. When he wasn't talking about him, he was asking me questions; like he was the therapist."

"Maybe this symptom is new?"

"Or maybe he wasn't comfortable telling me."

"How do you feel about Will?"

"He could be unstable, or it could be just PTSD. I'm not sure how I feel about you, though."

"Go on."

"Well, you keep pushing me into relationships that I don't know if I want to be a part of."

"Will is going to lean on someone romantically, most likely you or Alana. Alana is going to turn him down, and that'll only make him worse. You feel sympathetic toward him, I can tell already. I'm not saying Alana doesn't, she just has more of a professional curiosity in him instead of romantic. And Abigail needs all of the support she can get. Too many people think that she helped her father kill those girls, and she has Freddie Lounds hounding her for an article, Will and I pressing on her to be her foster fathers, and Alana trying to force therapy on her. It'd be good for her to have someone she can confide in, especially someone with the same background."

"Same background?"  
"I know more about you than you think I do, Elizabeth."

"Excuse me?"

"How did you get that scar on your left arm?"

"Hunting."

"Who taught you how to hunt?"

"My father."

"So you have more in common with Abigail than you thought. Her father taught her, as well."

"Can we change the subject, please?"

"Hunting is a touchy subject for you. What happened?"

"I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"I was thinking about getting tickets to see an operatic play. You can join me, if you'd like."

"I'm going to have to turn down that offer. I don't listen to opera; and people will peg us as a couple, which we really don't need now."

"I suppose you're right."

What in the hell was I getting myself into?


	6. Retour en Oklahoma

"Where is that book you—" I started to say as I walked into Hannibal's office, but I stopped in my tracks and stood there frozen. He looked straight into my eyes and kept fighting with this man I'd never seen before. I kept hoping that this was self-defense. It went on for what felt like eternity and finally Hannibal got the better of him. He came over to me then. "What was that?" I say. He keeps telling me to calm down and that it's over. I realize then that I was hyperventilating.

"Elizabeth, breathe. What's the matter with you?" He puts a rag over my mouth and I feel unnaturally relaxed. I fell into his arms and he carried me up the stairs and put me in my bed. I blacked out.

When I wake up, Will and Hannibal are both in my room. I feel dizzy. "What happened?" I say as I sit up.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Will glares at Hannibal. "What did you give her?"

"It was only a low dose of chloroform. You weren't calming down by yourself. I was worried."

"How much do you remember?" Will asks.

"I remember walking in his office and seeing him attacking that man or the other way around, I honestly don't remember."

"Okay." He looks at me sympathetically. "You want to come with me to walk it off? I need some air."

I nod and walk outside with him. "Did that really scare you that much?"

"I wouldn't say scared…"

"What would you say then?"

"Surprised, and obviously not in a good way."

"You're not telling me something." He watches my discomfort after he says that. "It's alright. You don't have to tell me unless you want to."

"No, I do. Might as well. Well, there's no way to sugarcoat this. My uncle was a serial killer." I look away, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"What does this have to do with—"

I cut him off. "When I was thirteen, my parents went back to England for a week. I stayed at my uncle's with my brother. I had snuck out and when I got back I couldn't find my uncle or my brother. My uncle had told us to never go in the basement, but I didn't know where else to look so I went anyway. There was my brother watching my uncle slaughter a woman. Her head was lolled back. The last thing she saw was me. He saw me standing there. He was probably drunk. He walked over to me, said 'what the hell are you looking at' and slapped my face with his bloody hand. My brother kept quiet. He was only eight at the time. I told my parents but my mother told me I was insane and I needed to stop reading Sherlock Holmes. My father believed me though. He made me go down to the police with him and tell them. I was forced into therapy after what I saw, same as my brother."

"So when you saw that man; his name is Tobias, by the way; attacking Hannibal, you kept flashing back to this?"

"Yes. That was all I saw."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's alright. I just haven't talked to anyone about this in a long time."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your brother after that?"

"Well, you can ask him if you want to go to Oklahoma State Penitentiary."

"What? What did he do?"

"He raped and killed his teacher when he was fourteen. I kept telling my mother that he was never okay after that happened and that the therapy wasn't helping him. She never believed me. When this happened, she moved back to England. I haven't heard from her since. This is why I never became an FBI agent. I thought that they'd trace him back to me, and they wouldn't let me."

"Don't worry. You're not missing out." He sighs. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"I need it off my chest. I haven't talked about it in so long."

"But why are you telling me?"

"I trust you; I suppose. You told me about Garret Jacob Hobbs when you first met me."

"I was out of it."

"Well, so am I right now."

"Well, at least you've never had to shoot anyone."

"Funny you should say that."

"Don't tell me you have."

"I was sixteen. I was hunting with my dad, my friend and her dad. My dad and my friend's dad went farther into the woods where my mother wouldn't let me go. My friend was fooling around and walked away and this man came out of nowhere. He started attacking my friend so instinct kicked in and I shot him. I was in and out of therapy after that. I was in the newspaper; it was awful."

He puts his hand on my shoulder awkwardly. "I never thought I'd meet someone that had gone through this too."

"I didn't either." I run my fingers through my hair nervously. "We should probably head back…"

"Yeah," While we're walking back he tells me what Tobias had done. Franklyn, the patient I referred to Hannibal; was killed by him.


	7. Est-ce l'amour?

"So, what are you doing?" I say to Will. He called me over his house, which somehow feels more quaint and isolated at night.

"There's an animal stuck in the wall. I've been trying to get it out, but what I've been doing hasn't really been working."

"Can I see?" He nods and I look through the hole he made. "I don't see anything there. When was the last time you heard it?"

"About five minutes ago."

"Will, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't think that what you heard is really there."

"This means I'm crazy, doesn't it?"

"No. You could be sleep-deprived."

"I suppose. I'm lucky if I get five hours of sleep some nights." He runs his hand through his hair. "I need a drink. You want something? I have whiskey."

I'd been through this so many times. They get you drunk and one thing leads to another and you're ashamed of yourself in the morning and you never see them again. Will didn't seem like that though; so I took the whiskey.

"Did you think this was a date?" I'm about to answer but he interrupts. "Never mind. I'm too broken to date."

"You're not broken."

"Then why do I have a psychiatrist? Why does Jack have to keep me on a leash when I'm out on the field? Why am I alone?"

"You don't have to be broken to have a psychiatrist. You're not in an asylum, Will. I can't answer why Jack does what he does; but a lot of people aren't in a relationship. There's nothing wrong with not being in one."

"I know." He sighs. "But I keep thinking that maybe I need that I need that in my life. A stability that I can't make myself. I need someone else…"

"Not all relationships are stable. If you pick the wrong person, it can make you a hell of a lot worse rather than better."

He nods. "I bet you left someone back in Oklahoma."

"That's a story for another time," I say as I smile.

"I'd love to know. I'm sure it wasn't the standard high school relationship."

"It was anything but that."

"Dating anyone now?"

"What are you implying, Will?"

"Not a thing, Elizabeth."

"Really? Sure seemed like you were implying something."

"Maybe I was."

His hand that was on my wrist travels up slowly to my shoulder. He plays with my hair for a few minutes as we sit there in silence, staring at each other. He takes me by surprise as he suddenly kisses me.

"I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have." He says after he pulls away.

"Um, it's alright? You shouldn't really be sorry for that."

"Now what are you implying?" He laughs. "Don't answer that. I think I've got an idea."

"Which is?"

"You've got a thing for unstable FBI agents."

"No. I've got a thing for a certain unstable, if we must use that word, FBI agent."

"Well, who could that be?" He says mockingly.

"Should I give you a hint?" He actually seemed happy, and I hadn't seen him this way yet. If I really am the reason he's feeling even a little bit better, I was going to keep at it. I wanted to help him even more now.

"Please." He says, so I lean into kiss him then. "I've got an even better idea now." He smiles. "Look, I know I'm a mess. Please don't contradict that. It's the truth. But when this is over, when Jack doesn't need me anymore, if you stick with me through this, I will make it up to you then. I promise. I really like you, Elizabeth. Probably too much for my own good. But I haven't felt this way about anyone in a long time…"

"I will. I'll stay for as long as you need me, Will." And I meant that. At this point, I wasn't thinking about Hannibal and how I was cheating. I was thinking about Will. There was something about him that drew me in and kept me staying for longer than I meant to. Maybe I needed him too. Love does have to work both ways.


End file.
